Car-coupling.



E. P. KINNE.

GAR COUPLING. APPLICATION FILED OCT. 27, 1908 Patenfed Nev. 21, 1911.

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E; P. KINNE.

- GAR COUPLING. APPLIOATION IIILED 002?. 27, 1908.

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OAR COUPLING.

APPLICATION FILED OCT. 27, 190:

' Patented Now 21,1911

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EDMUND P. KINNE, OF

ALLIANCE, OHIO, ASSIGNOB TO AMERICAN STEEL FOUNDRIES,

OF NEW YORK, N. Y., A CORPORATION OF NEW JERSEY.

CAR-COUPLING:

Specification of Letters Patent. Patented NO 21, 1911.

Application filed October 27, 1908. Seria1 No. 459,771.

To (1/! ti /20m. it may concern. Y

.lle it known that I, Eminxn P. Kixxn. a citizen of the United States, residing at Alliance, in the county of Stark and State of ()hio. have invented certain new and useful improvements in Car-Couplings, of which the following is a. specification.

'l his invention relates to couplers of the llanney type; and more especially. to that class employing a vertically movable locking pin/ for securing and releasing the lmuekle/at the proper times, with a device actuated by the locking pin in its rising 1u .em,ei1t, to throw the knuckle into open position.

The principal objects of my invention are, Iirstflin general, to provide. an improved coupler of this character; second, to provide," a coupler in which the full opening movement of the knuckle is insured by the rise of the. locking pin; and, third, torender the opening ofthe knuckle more easy and certain in operation. These objects I attain chielly through the. provision of a novel form and arrz'mgeinent of knuckleopening devicecharacterized chiefly by its location relatively to and its manner of engagement with thetail of the knuckle. Heretofore such devices have been so located as to lie opposite the back of thetail of the knuckle. and exert. thereon an initial push or kick when the locking pin is raised. My improved knuckle-opening device is located opposite. the inner end of the tail of the knuckle, operates in a direction parallel with instead of transversely to the longitudinal axis of the coupler, and continuously engages the cam-shaped end of the tail of the knuckle throughout the entire opening movement of the latter and at an ad vanta geous leverage.

My invention and the advantages secured thereby will be more fully understood by reference to the accompanying drawings,

which illustrate onepractical' niecnanical,

einlmdiment thereof. and in which, I

.l igure 1 is a-h'orizontal section through the coupler head and itscon tained parts, on the line l1 of Fig. 2, with the. knuckle showirin top plan view and in locked position. Fig. 2 is a vertical longitudinal section through the coupler head, on the line 2 -2 of Fig. 1, with the locking pin and knuckle appearing in elevation, the latter bemg shown 1I11X3kf3d-pOS1t10nz F 1g. 3 is an abbreviated view similar to Fig. 2, showing the locking pin in lock-set position. Fig. 4C is a horizontal sectional detail on the line 4t l of Fig. 3. Fig. 5 is a detail similar to Fig. et, but-showing the tail of the knuckle thrown to its outermost or open position. Fig. 6 is a detail front elevation of the locking pin. Fig. 7 is a detail end elevation of the tail of the knuckle. Fig. 8 is a view similar to Fig. 3, but showingthe fully raised positi n of the locking pin, and illustrating themanner of actuating the knuckle in its opening movement" from the locking pin through the agency of the interposed kicker. Fig. 9 is a perspective view of the inner end of the tail of the knuckle, more especially illustrating a cam carried thereby through which the locking pin is raised out of the way during-the closing movement of the knuckle. Fig. 10 is a fragmentary longitudinal section through Fig. 9. Fig. 11 is a transverse sectional detail in the plane ofthe axis or shaft of the kicker ,.illustrating the manner of mounting the same.

Referringto the drawings, 12 designates the shank, 13 the guard arm, and let the knuckle-carrying member of a car coupler of the .Janney type. On a pivot-bolt 15 carried by the member 14: is pivoted the knuckle 16 which has, in this case, an inwardly extending tail 17 formed With a rounded cam-shaped inner end 18 of pcculiar configuration. This rounded end of the tail of the knuckle has formed thereon an inwardly projecting extension 19 of generally triangular form in plan view, the upper surface 20 of which is inclined, as Well shown in the detail view Fig. 7, and constitutes a cam to effect the automatic lifting of the locking pin out of the way when the knuckle closes. The lower surface 21' of the extension 19 is tapered ofi downwardly and inwardly of the tail-piece, so as to merge into and constitute a continuation of the lower upwardly and inwardly tapered edge of the cam end 18.

The top and bottom walls of the coupler head are provided with apertures 22 and 23,

respectively, the front and rear walls of which are inclined downwardly and forwardly of the head, for the accommodation of the locking pin designated as an'entirety by 24. This locking pin has at its upper end a horizontal flange by which it rests V on the top of the coupler head when in its lowermost position, and above the same an apertured lug or eye 26 ioreonnection of the usual lifting chain (not shown). The upper end of the shank of the locking pin directly beneath the flange is laterally and rearwardly offset, being formedwith oblique front and rear sides 27 and 28 adapted to tooperate with the correspondingly inclined walls of the aperture The locking pin is further provided, near its lower end, with a transverse notch or recess 29 formed in its front face to admit the passagevpast the same of the tail of the knuckle when the pin is in lock-set position, so asto permit the knuckle to yield and open when the cars are drawn apart, the bottom wall of the recess having a transverse inolinationor pitch corresponding Sl'lbSl'zlI1titIll"tO the inclination of the outer edge of the extension 19, as bcstillustrated in Fig. 4. The shank of the locking pin directly-above the notch 20 is formed with an oblique inclined or cam surface 30, which is adapted to be engaged by the inclined surface 20 of the extension ltl'of the knuckle tail when the knuckle is swung inwardly to automatically raise the locking pin out of the way and permit the knuckle to close. The lower end of the locl ing pin has a laterally projecting toe 31 which, when the pin is raised from its lowermost or looking position, cooperates with one arm of a knucklmopening device to cause the pin to assume the lock-set position, and. when the pin is further raised, actuates said device to cause the latter to push the tail of the knuckle outwardly, thus opening the knuckle.

The coupler head has formed on its inner front wall directly above the lower aperture :23 a lock-set shoulder or seat 32, on which the lower end of the locking pin rests when in lock-set position, and just above said shoulder jonrnaled the rock-shaft I323 oi. the knuckleejector or ikiclcer. lfiig. ll. illustrates the manner of mounting the shaft 33, from which it will be seen that a whole bearing 55-4 and a half bearing 35 are provided for the opposite ends of the shaft, so that the shaft may be seated by lirst introducing one end lhercol to the whole bearing Ill, and then permitting the opposite end to drop into the ball bearing 55. On the shaft 33 which, it will be observed, is mounted to lie horizontally in a direction at right angles to the longitudinal axis of the couplerhead, are a pair of downwardly and upwardly curred arms 36 and 37, respectively, both projecting rem-wardly oi the coupler head. The arm :26 lies abovcand in the vertical plane of the laterally projecting toe 31 of the locking pin, so that its concave lower edge adapted to be engaged by said toe when the pin is raised, whereby the lower end of the pin is guided to its seat on the ledge 32, thus causing the pin to assume the lock-set position. The arm 87, which ro- -jects from near the opposite end of the shaft 33, lies below and behind the rounded camshaped end ofthe knuckle-tail, and is so positioned that, when raised, it engages said rounded end of. the knuckle tail at thepoint thereof most remote from the pivot 15.

Referring once more to the locking pin, it will be observed that the rearside thereof at its lower end is formed on an incline, as indicated at 38, corresponding 'to.the inclination of the inneror rearwall of the lower opc1'iing23, so that, as thepin drops to its lowermost or locking position, the said inclined .WtIllS cooperate to urge the pin forwardly of the coupler head, the similar inclines on the rear side of the ollsetupper end portion of the pin and on the rear wall of the upper opening 22 having the same eilect upon the upper end of the pin. This forward tendency of the locking pin is augmented by the angular engagement of the knuckle tail and side of the locking pinas indicated at 35). in this manner upward creeping ot' the pin is avoided. \Vhen the locking pin is in its lowest position, however, as shown in Fig. 2, the front portion 40 of the pin contacts with the portionll of-the coupler head, and prevents the wedgingaction of the two locking faces from forcing the locking pin forward of its proper position.

On the back of the knuckle tail 17 there is formed a laterally extending lug 42 which engages a shoulder or stop 43 in the coupler head and. assists in relieving strain on the pivot-pin 15 of the knuckle. This feature, in cooperation with the inclined engagement of the adjacent-sides of the locking pin and knuckle tail, as shownat 35). also prevents the knuckle from being pulled out in case the pivot-pin breaks.

in assembling the parts, the knuckle ejeclor must first be inserted. then the locking pin, and finally the knuckle. 'lhc knuckle-ejector having lirst: been inserted by entering one end of the shaft 33 in the whole bearing 34 and dropping the opposite end into the ball. bearing 35, the locking pin is then inserted by rotating the. (jOtZtOF HP- ward or outward as far as possible to permit the toe oi the locking pin to pass the arm 36, for which purpose the ejector is turned to a position slightly beyond that indicated in Fig. 8 (the knuckle not being pro.- cnt). The ejector is then turned back so that the two arms lie one on each side of the locking pin, and the knuckle is then pivoted in' place.

Tn the operation of thedevicc, if it is desired to simply raise the locking pin to lock-set position in order to "pern'lit the knuckle to open, as in uncou pl jinggtwo cars, the locking pin is raised by the usual means until the toe thereof engages the concave lower edge of the arm 36, by which'it is iguided onto-the seat 32. This brings the the knuckle, as in preparation for coupling,

the pin is raised still higher, and the sliding engagement of thetoe 31 on the arm 36 rocks the ejector, causing the arm 37 to strike'the extreme outer end of the knuckle tail at the rmote'end of the con inuous cam of the knuckle, the arm operating always in curve ,formeil on the lower edge 21 thereof.

The ini 'olute character of this curve is such that the pressure of the arm37 thereon acts to push the tail of theknu'ckle outwardly, thus opening the knuckle; and it will be observed as constituting an important feature of the' invention that this action of the arm 37 on the knuckle tail is continuous throughout the entire outer or opening movement a direction parallel with the longitudinal axis ofthe cqupler. In other words, the ac-' tion isf ztliat (if a continuous thrust upon a 'cam surface; rather than a mere momentary push or kick to effect the initial part of the opening movement of the knuckle, as heretofore. The closing of the knuckle and its automatic locking may be effected when the lockingpin is in its seated position by rea-' son of the engagement of the cooperating inclinef'or cam surfaces QO-and 3O of'the knuckle tail and locking pin, respecti vely, which'act to raise the pin suliieiently to permit the knuckle tail to pass h'ereby, after which the pin drops by gravity into the locking position, being urged, forwardly by the cooperating inclined wa ls of the upper and lower endsof the pin and the apertures of the coupler head through which it passes. From the above it will be seen that my invention provides a device wherein the knuckle is positively forced to open position bya cont'nuous thrust upon the tail of the knuckle w en the locking pin is fully raised, and by which also the locking pin is prevented from creeping under pull upon the knuckle by reason, of the constant tendency to'draw the lockingpin forwardly to a position into which it cannot rise since, owing to the relative formation of the upper and lower ends of the locking pin and the apertures through which it passes, the'pin must move bodily-backward of its normal locking position before it can rise. The

anti-creeping capacity is thus secured by the relative formation of the locking pin, coupler head, and knuckle tail, without requiring the employment of an additional device or devices-tor this purpose.

I claim:

1. The combination with a coupler head, of a-knuckle pivoted therein and aving a tail provided with a cam-shaped inner end, of a locking pin movable vertically across the path of said knuckle tail, a knuckleopening device comprising a rock-shaft piv oted in said coupler head on an axis transverse to the longitudinal axis of the coupler head and a pair of inwardly extending arms rigid with said rock-shaft, one of which arms is adapted to engage said cam-shaped end of the knuckle tail throughout the entire opening movement of the knuckle, and a lateral projection on said locking pin adapted, when the latter is raised, to engage and lift the other of said arms whereby'to rock said knuckle-opening device and cause said first-named arm to force said knuckle tail outwardly of the coupler head,

substantially as described.

2. The combination with a couplerhead, of a knuckle pivoted thereinand having a tail "provided with a cam-shaped inner end, of'a locking pin movable vertically across the path of said knuckle tail, a, knuckle operating device pivoted in said'cou ler head on an axis located in front of the locking pin, and having a portion adapted to slidingly engage said camrshaped end of the knuckle tail to open the knuckle, and means carried by the locking pin adapted when the latter is raised to rock said knuckle opening device into engagement with said knuckle tail, substantially as described.

EDMUND P. KINNE.

WVitnesses:

. J ()IIN B. FREER,

H. R. BULMER.- 

